Ai yi yi…
For the record, I don’t begrudge anyone who chooses not to continue enrolled (paid) membership. We all have to decide what’s important to us and how to spend our money. Neither do I begrudge those who choose to simply avail themselves of all the wonderful free content that’s available to everyone. Chris makes the choice to give that content away, and there’s nothing wrong with taking that which is free for the taking. What I find offensive is when people take the free route, pay nothing for the value they receive, then complain about it.
Chris likes to think of this site and these forums as his virtual living room. He invites everyone in - even complete strangers - because he’s passionate about sharing his work and helping the community around him. He’s just that kind of guy. He serves free appetizers (this blog) to everyone with his compliments, and those who choose to make a financial contribution (enrolled membership) are invited into the dining room for a full meal (Insider and Martenson Reports).
There is absolutely nothing wrong with coming into the living room, staying there for years at a time, and just taking advantage of all the free appetizers. Chris doesn’t mind that at all, and he understands that some people are on a tight budget and can’t afford to join the party in the dining room. Fair enough. But if you’re going to avail yourself of this man’s hospitality and camp out in his living room, please don’t shit on the carpet, ok? Is that really too much to ask?
My abrupt reaction to sofitek was because I’m really getting sick of what I see as a growing trend of disresepct on this site. It always seems to come from the non-enrolled members, and it always seems to involve shitting on the carpet while whining about how unfair things are to those who choose not to ante up for enrolled membership.
Recently Chris was honored by being selected for a feature article in Boston Magazine, and a thread was put up announcing this milestone accomplishment. Regular contributors to the site immediately used the opportunity to congratulate Chris for this new level of recognition. Then some jerk showed up to shit on the carpet. He said he’d watched the CC over a year ago, but he had obviously made ZERO contribution to the site - the post in the Boston Mag thread was his first ever, so in a full year he’d never taken the time to submit an article or post interesting information or otherwise contribute to the community. Rather than join in the accolades and congratulate Chris on his well deserved recognition, this joker went on to gripe about the “haves and have-nots” and whine about how unfair it he thought it was that enrolled membership costs money. Give me a break! That’s like showing up at the party in Chris’ living room, insulting Becca (Chris’ wife), shitting on the carpet, and walking out. I have absolutely no respect for such entitled, self-righteous attitudes, and frankly I’m disappointed that Chris tolerates such nonsense in his home at all. If it were my website I’d just have deleted the guy’s account on the spot. Ping. Hasta la vista, whiner!
Look, we all have different interests and backgrounds, and we all come to this site for different reasons. I personally am an investor. That’s how I make my living, and I make no apology for the fact that the primary reason I’m here is to gain insight on financial markets from Chris’ perspectives on the economy. I personally don’t identify with the many people on the site who react to this information by focusing on building a rural homestead around a sustainability strategy. But do you see me showing up in the Permaculture or Transition Town threads calling people names or criticizing them for being hippies (or whatever)? Of course not! I respect my fellow site colleagues and I applaud them for taking action in the ways that make the most sense to them for their families. The “prepper threads” may not be my cup of tea, but I’m still glad they’re here and I applaud those who are focused on such things. Why in the world would I ever do something so rude and inappropriate as to criticize them just because “their thing” doesn’t happen to be “my thing”?
But there seems to be a double-standard on the site. While I’m sure nobody would tolerate something as absurd as a nay-sayer telling the preppers they are wrong to be prepping, a whole bunch of people seem to feel entitled to direcltly criticize and attack anyone - including Chris himself - who seeks to preserve their existing wealth or (heaven forbid) use the information on this site to enhance a for-profit investment strategy. For example, I recently penned an article about potential outcomes from the coming peak cheap oil shock. The vast majority of replies were very complimentary and flattering, but a few detractors just couldn’t resist adding a snide comment about how the article was somehow bad because it was “motivated by GREED” or somesuch drivel. I certainly welcome critical feedback on the substance of my writing, but attacking my motivations just because I choose to participate in the capitalist system I live in is just plain immature. Curiously, these disrespectful detractors never seem to be in the ranks of enrolled membership. It’s always the freeloaders looking for another excuse to shit on Chris’ living room carpet.
Is cause and effect really that hard to understand here, folks? I’m not a professional writer and have nothing to gain from posting articles here. That sort of BS just makes me want to post my future writings in the enrolled member-only area, just so I don’t have to listen to the whining from the freeloader section of Chris’ living room where all the brown stains are showing on Becca’s previously beautiful carpet. What many of you aren’t aware of is that I actually write two articles about Peak Oil, not one. I consciously made the decision not to post the 2nd article here (I quietly posted a link to the article on another site instead) because I’m sick of the entitled attitude of the whiners here.
This business of shitting on the carpet really does affect Chris in a big way. Frankly, I’m surprised he’s lasted this long. If it were me, I’d kick the freeloaders out, write off the carpet, and re-launch the site around a strategy that appeals more to paid subscribers and gives less away to freeloading carpet-stainers. So far Chris is still very dedicated to his current strategy, but if you guys keep this crap up he’ll eventually get sick of it and you’ll loose the free lunch so many of you have been enjoying here for years. Please think about that.
Gibber, I read your post three times and still can’t figure out exactly what your point is. You say you think I acted like a three year old. Ok, fine, that’s your perspective. But then elsewhere in the same post you say the primary reason you’re here in the first place is to read my posts. Did I get that right? Then you go on to make a big deal about how you turned off automatic renewal because of my response to sofitek, and you seem to be implying some sort of threat where I have to shape up and be nice to the whiners according to your standards, or else you’ll take your marbles and go home (cancel enrolled membership). Is that the idea? I’m seriously having a hard time following your point here.
Look, I admit that I snapped at sofitek. The reason is that I’m really getting sick of what I see as a growing trend - heck, let’s call it sofitek syndrome, where non-paying parasites just can’t resist shitting all over Dr. Martenson’s living room. I feel quite honored to be in his home at all, even though I’ve paid for the privilege. It really offends me to have my access to Chris’ insight threatened by others having the shockingly poor taste to shit on the carpet after being invited in for free. It’s not even so much that I’m offended by the behavior - after all it’s not my carpet. But when I put myself in Chris’ shoes, if I were him I’d just say “Ok, I’ve had enough of this crap” and kick everyone out of my house. I don’t want to be kicked out of Chris’ house because sofitek, Poet and others can’t comprehend the basic idea that when someone invites you into their home for free, it’s not appropriate to shit on their carpet or whine about how unfair it is that you didn’t get to taste everything the paying guests got to eat in the dining room. I view this behavior as a direct threat to my own continued access to Chris’ insight, and that’s why I take such great offense.
Gibber, if I’m reading you right, your intention here is to levy some sort of ultimatum that I have to change my tune or else you’ll get even by canceling your paid membership, as if to exact some sort of economic sanction on Chris because I (not Chris) had the audacity to object to people like sofitek shitting on the carpet. Dude, you can’t be serious! I’m officially calling your bluff, Gibber. I’m currently working on two new articles. One is a much deeper discussion of ways to own gold, how the london good delivery system works, etc. The other is called The Efficient Market Fallacy and will easily be my best writing to date. Gibber, you just persuaded me not to post either article on this site, despite the fact that Chris has invited me to put future articles on the main blog. Satisfied? Now your stated reason for staying has been taken away. So take your marbles and go home. Cancel your membership and get lost. As for your implied threat to punish Chris for my attidue by taking away your subscription revenue, I already voluntarily make financial contributions in excess of 10x the asking price for paid enrolled member status. I’ll ask Chris to allocate $300 of my last contribution to the Gibber-b-gone fund just to make sure he suffers no loss from your decision to leave. I’ll think of it as a donation to cleaning the carpets. Satisfied?
Folks, there’s an imporant point here and I hope some of you are getting it: The fact that I’m getting sick of the carpet staining syndrome and ready to just go elsewhere and stop posting on this site isn’t the part you should be worried about. You can do without me and my admittedly strong opinions and personality. But forget about me for a minute. What if Chris wises up and gets sick of this crap too? I don’t think you’ll be too happy if he decides enough is enough and decides to do something else with his life because sofitek syndrome got to him. He’s a much more mellow guy than I am, so I don’t think he’s there yet. But keep posting these whining complaints about how what you get for free isn’t generous enough, and you’ll eventually push him over the edge. Please give that scenario some serious thought.
All the best,
Erik
